Digital Anime: Viz is streaming anime, honto ne?
viz anime screen shot 1
Viz announced today that their beta site, Viz Anime, is up and running. Launching with 11 shows: Naruto, Honey and Clover, Inuyasha – The Final Act, Naruto Shippuden, Nana, Inuyasha, Bleach, Death Note, Hikaru no Go, Buso Renkin, and The Prince of Tennis, could the legal digital age for Otaku really be coming?
When I first browsed the site, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would I need to register? Pay? Is it subbed? Dubbed? Here are a few quick facts that I discovered while driving around.
- I didn’t need to register or pay. I began by checking all the shows because wondered if I would run up against something similar to Funimation Video On Demand where some of the shows are free, and some require you to pay. I didn’t run into anything like that, but what I did notice was that the media was embedded, and that the anime is actually streaming through Hulu.
- All the anime in Viz Anime is subtitled.
- There are advertisements since it streams through Hulu, with an added one on some: Viz’s advertisement.
- Everything loads pretty fast. There were a few times where it froze on the outset when it tried to load the ads.
Why did they begin a new site which simply streams from Hulu’s server? One
Viz Anime Screen Shot 2 (Advertisements)
can only stipulate a few reasons. The first reason I would suspect is that it would make it easier to compile all of Viz’s anime on one site. With Hulu, the otaku might jump around from anime to anime, and the particular anime(s) may not always be a Viz Media property. Another reason could be to see just how much interest fans would have in a Viz Anime streaming site. Many readers may be aware that, Crunchyroll, one of the leaders in streaming anime who charges a small subscription fee, is doing quiet well. And since manga sales are on the decline, an anime streaming site such as Viz Anime could benefit Viz Media LLC. How so? Free while having ad support, or even charging a very nominal monthly fee could pull in a little, or a lot, of cash.
All of the Anime is subtitled, including the older Viz properties which had
Viz Anime Screen Shot 3
been dubbed. I imagine this is the case because if a viewer is watching Naruto, and progresses to Naruto Shippuden, then suddenly it switches from English to Japanese with subtitles, this may confuse the viewer, and possibly enrage them. Some anime watchers become used to a certain set of voice actors and when it changes, it’s like suddenly shifting that person from a vacation on the beach, to a vacation in Antarctica. It can be that drastic.
The advertisements are not very disruptive, but like Hulu, if you fast forward because you have forgotten something, got distracted, or simply wanted to see a scene again, you will have to watch another advertisement. And of course there are a bevy of Viz advertisements with links all over the site for their various products.
There isn’t a lot of other information as to what they are truly planning to do with Viz Anime. Even the AboutUs is a bit vague.
“VIZ Anime is the official video streaming site for VIZ Media, bringing you the best in anime. When we started planning the site, it was clear what we wanted to do. We wanted to dry out your eyeballs and blow your mind while you watch hour after hour of the most imaginative anime around.”
Overall, the concept is interesting, I am curious to see where it will go.
